Useful
by gaarasmistress39
Summary: I'm changing Sakura's personality so she's more useful. So just read and tell me what you think or if you have any ideas you think would be better here. Gaara OC. I do not own anything in the Naruto series just my own character.
1. Chapter 1

_thoughts_

_"_speaking_"_

**Inner Sakura**

* * *

Iruka brought Naruto into class tied up as punishment for vandalizing the faces of the Hokages. The class groaned when Iruka announced that they would be reviewing the transformation jutsu because of Naruto's actions. "This is all your fault Ino muttered as they all stood in line at the front of the room awaiting their turns, "whatever..." Naruto grumbled as he went to take his turn after Sasuke. He was pretty sure that Shikamaru had also said something about wasting time, but he didn't really care enough to look into it. _  
_

At the end of her turn, Sakura having gone first returned to her seat where she continued to write in the little book she carried everywhere with her. She wasn't aware that a pair of curious black eyes were glaring at her; she was too busy with her work. _What could she possibly be doing? _Sasuke thought to himself, _she's always so focused on those books of hers_. _Studying them and making notes as though her life depends on it.  
_"Is something the matter Sasuke?" Ino asked her voice bubbly and flirty as she took her seat behind him. She noticed he was glaring and followed his gaze to Sakura, who was still completely oblivious to his presence. "Did Sakura do something to make you angry?" She asked. At the sound of her name Sakura came out of her thoughts and gave them her full attention. Sasuke looked away as though she were unimportant, but Ino just kept glaring at her. "Do you need something Ino?" She asked confused, "No, Sasuke looked mad and you appeared to be the focus of his anger."  
**I can't imagine why. We've never even spoken to each other before...**She sighed inwardly, **perhaps my lack of making conversation with him, or not even attempting to show an interest in him like the other girls do has offended him in some way. **She continued to reflect on the subject until everyone had completed the review and class resumed.

* * *

The next day was the day of the graduation test, and of course Sakura passed without and problems; however the fact that she had passed and was a Genin didn't really mean that much to her. "Sakura, I've made you a snack."  
"Thanks mom." She said, "I'm almost finished with this book, and I'll need to go and get another one soon."  
"Perhaps you should just try and find someone who can teach you."  
"That's not a bad idea, but I want to learn as much as I can by myself first." Sakura said. "we all have our preferences in the way that we learn." Her mother said leaving her alone to do her work. The day after tomorrow was orientation and she would be working with a jounin, "I could learn a lot from someone with so much skill, but will it be in contingency with my current interests?" She asked her empty room.

* * *

Ino was just leaving her own home when Sakura came walking down the street on her way to the academy for orientation as well. "Good morning Sakura."  
"Good morning Ino..." She replied her thoughts elsewhere as they walked. "Is there something wrong?"  
"I think I might have done something to offend Sasuke at some point, but because we've never because we've never even had a conversation before i can't figure out what I did." She sighed, "I really don't want him to hate me..."  
"Does this have anything to do with you liking him?"  
"No, I just don't like the thought of having an enemy...especially since we may have to go on important missions together at some point in the future." Ino nodded in both understanding and in relief "he's not very social, but he'll more than likely give you a strait answer just to get you to leave him alone."  
"I suppose that it's worth a shot?" She mumbled.

* * *

"You will be placed in squads of three." Iruka said, "this will match your individual skills in a way that will make the probability of mission of mission success greater." He explained and began announcing the teams. Squad seven will be Uchia Sasuke...Haruna Sakura...Usumaci Naruto."  
Naruto wasn't about being on the same team as Sasuke; in fact he started complaining about it as soon as Iruka had finished reading the rest of the teams off of his list. Sakura was worried about being on a team with Sasuke, considering he obviously had some sort of problem with her. She wasn't too worried about working with Naruto since he was a nice guy aside from the bad choices that he very frequently made. **Since being around Sasuke is now completely unavoidable...I will have to speak to him. **She'd meant to sigh inwardly as well, but she did it out loud and flinched when she noticed Sasuke's already annoyed glare switch over to her. She smiled at him and he went back to glaring at the front of the room.

"Hey Sakura! You want to have lunch with me?" Naruto asked running to catch up with her. Sakura thought a moment and nodded, "I just don't get it..." he groaned as they sat on a bench eating. "Get what?"  
"Why all of you girls like Sasuke so much!"  
"I do not have any personal feelings for him, but Ino says that she likes him because he's cool, smart, and gifted."  
"Well, I'm way better than he is!" Naruto said jumping up, "I'll find him and prove it!" Sakura watched him take off and decided to study some more.

An hour later Sasuke came walking by the bench she was on looking for Naruto. "Umm...can I ask you a question?" She asked nervously, "is it important?" He asked stopping and turning to look at her with the annoyed glare that she was beginning to believe was the only expression he knew how to make. "I'm not really sure if you would think that its important, but it is very important to me."  
"What?" He demanded sighing.  
"Well, I have noticed you glaring at me with what looks like anger recently." She explained, "I was wondering if I had offended you or something?"  
"No, how could you? This would be the first time we've ever spoken to each other." Sakura was both relieved and confused. "Then why are you always glaring at me like I've done something?"

* * *

"The way you focus..." Sasuke suddenly said as he, Naruto, and Sakura sat waiting to meet their jounin. "What?" Both she and Naruto asked, "You wanted to know why I'm always glaring at you." Naruto went back to looking outside the door. "You don't like the way that I focus?"  
"No, I don't like I can't figure out what you're always so focused on in that book of yours." He said his gaze shifting from her to the little book in her hand. "Do you want to see it?" She asked holding it out to him. As Sasuke took the book from her and opened it up to the first page, Naruto was placing an eraser in the slightly opened the door and stepped back to admire his work. "Naruto! You're going to get into trouble!" She scolded.  
"Our new teacher is a high ranking ninja," Sasuke muttered. "he would never fall for something that stupid."  
"Sasuke is right, you don't know what this person like..." She said.

The book was filled with medical notes, drawings of herbs that she'd done herself, and very detailed diagrams. "This is a very detailed note book." He said giving it back to her. Just then the door opened, and the eraser fell on the head of the man that would be their new teacher.

* * *

After they had made the somewhat appropriate introductions; Kakashi informed them them that they would do a mission first thing the next morning, this mission would be the test to determine if they would really get the chance to be ninja. and they weren't allowed to have breakfast.

_A medical journal. _Sasuke thought to himself as he walked around the village. Sakura was compiling notes to make her own medical field journal. "That would be something to work on...what she lacks in combat skills can definitely be made up for if she can administer quick treatment to our injuries." He continued to talk to himself, _I suppose that Naruto could be of some use too...if he can manage to pull it together when it comes time to fight._ But he seriously doubted that it would ever be possible.

* * *

Sakura had taken her mother's advice and was at the hospital furiously taking notes on everything that the doctors and nurses were demonstrating for her, "Do you think I have enough to start making my own medicine?"  
"I suppose I could show you the proper method today."  
**I'm not very good at fighting, so I want to prove myself useful to my friends and Kakashi-sama somehow****.**


	2. Chapter 2

_"_speaking_"_

**Inner Sakura**

_'thoughts'_**  
**

* * *

They all met up at the designated training ground right on time; Naruto sat down and began to doze back off. Kakashi was nowhere to be found, so Sakura decided to look for some useful plants. Sasuke's eyes remained glued to her as she compared the surrounding plants to the various sketches in the book. "I could go over and be social...no more would know since Naruto has gone back to sleep and Kakashi is incredibly late." He thought to himself as he walked over to where she sat under the shade of a tree.

"Find anything useful?" He asked kneeling down beside her, "only a couple of useful herbs?" Sakura told him, "why are you looking for herbs?" He asked; though he sounded bored Sasuke was asking out of general curiosity, but to Sakura it seemed as though he was just making conversation to pass the time.  
"I'm in the process of learning how to make my own medicine."  
"Really?"  
"Yep, never know when you're on a mission and may need to fight off an illness or an enemies poison."  
"Anything I can do to help?" A voice asked and all three turned to see Kakashi had finally arrived after three hours of waiting.

Kakashi told them all some story about a black cat crossing his path making it so that he had to take the long way around. He then went on to explain the rules of the exercise, and when he told them about lunch their stomachs growled in unison causing each of them to groan inwardly. **Wait!** Sakura gasped inwardly as she hid and watched silently as Naruto faced Kakashi one on one. **I can make this easier!** She thought and silently took off into the surrounding forest.

Sasuke noticed Sakura leave her position from his post up in a tree. _'She must have a plan...' _He thought to himself; Sakura was well known for her analytical skills, so he would play along. _'I wont mind being stuck with her as much as I would mind being stuck with Naruto...but I will admit that he makes a good distraction.' _He snorted inwardly but shivered when he remembered how he had been blindsided into a kiss with the bright orange wearing idiot. "Hey," someone said from behind him making him think that his position had been compromised, until he realized it was just Sakura. "Naruto and his impressive knew technique have kept him busy for now, so tell me your plan quick."  
"First you need to ea this..." Sakura placed something brown and rough in his hand, "tree bark?"  
"It wont taste good, but it will keep the fact that we haven't eaten from posing as a problem for the time being." She explained. "We need to get to Naruto somehow."  
"Why?"  
"He could probably handle two of us, but all three would stand a better chance."  
"The bells..." Sakura cut off his argument, "What matters now is getting our hands on them." She said, "we can sort out who gets one by using process of elimination later." Sasuke couldn't come up with an argument, he didn't want to point out that he was from a superior blood line and did not need anyone. _'That wouldn't be good for the whole team dynamic later on.'_ "You go get Naruto and I'll keep an eye on Kakashi." He said reaching into his weapons pouch.

* * *

Kakashi had used a substitution jutsu to escape Sasuke's attack, and like clock work Sakura was at Naruto's side and Sasuke was taking on Kakashi. "You expect me to work with Sasuke?" Naruto repeated as he and Sakura went off in search of their squad member. "We need to stay focused Naruto...get the bells first; then decide who all gets one."  
"But..." Like she'd done to Sasuke, Sakura ended any protesting of her plan. "A good ninja knows when and how to use a plan. Your way had you caught in a trap that was more than obvious, so now we're going to do things my way." She scolded, "Sasuke didn't mind at all." She added knowing that Naruto's drive to prove that he is better than Sasuke would manipulate him into doing things her way. "I'll take down Kakashi, and give the other bell to you."  
"Why to me?" She asked genuinely surprised by his declaration.  
"Two reasons..." Naruto said as they slowed their pace, "the first is that I hate Sasuke."  
"That seems a little harsh considering you two don't really know each other all that well." She murmured. "The second reason is, you're really smart, and to me that makes up for any skills that you may lack." He went on as though she hadn't said anything.

* * *

"Hey...get me out of this will you."Sasuke called over to them as they were about to run right past him. Sasuke's fight with Kakashi had left him burried from the neck down and unable to move. Naruto went off to find Kakashi gasping with overly enthusiastic laughter every time he took a step. "Naruto! We should stick together!" Sakura called after him, but he continued on as though he hadn't heard her.

It took a few minutes for Sakura to dig Sasuke out; "I wasn't strong enough for him, but I touched the bells." Sasuke told her. "That's great! And with the three of us working together it should go a lot better!" She exclaimed as they went off in search of Naruto. "I'll give you one of the bells...you'd be much easier to deal with than Naruto, and training will help you with your skills in battle." He told her. Sakura was going to say something but was interrupted by the sound of the timer, it was lunch time had run out.


	3. Chapter 3

"speaking"

_thoughts_

**Inner Sakura**_  
_

* * *

Naruto had been tied to a wooden post for attempting to cheat and eat everyone's lunches. They had failed do to their inability to work as a team, but Kakashi was going to give them one more chance to pass. "Sakura should get a bell now!" Both boys said at the same time then fixed each other with a glare.  
"Sakura came up with a plan!" Naruto went on to say, "We were working as a team because she insisted on it!"  
"Naruto and I kept separating from the group, because we didn't trust you, and both of us were agreed that one of the bells would go to her." Sasuke added not getting as worked up as Naruto. "How can I be sure that you two are telling the truth?" Kakashi asked. None of them had picked up on the teasing note in his tone. "They are absolutely telling the truth!"

* * *

The sound of another girl's voice both startled and confused them as the three looked around for the source, "I knew I felt your presence." Kakashi said in an unconcerned tone. "Who?" Sakura asked; "Why not satisfy their curiosity and show yourself Akimi?" He said still sounding indifferent.  
A young girl the same age as them landed next to Kakashi. She was very pretty, with long silver hair that she had pulled back into a curled ponytail. Her body was curvy (as in you could see that she had breasts). And her eyes were a deadly shade of red. "I'm confused..." Sakura said breaking the silence. "Why have you been watching us?" Sasuke demanded, "a ninja must always suspect that their opponent is not alone." Sakura said in reaction to the question."My name is Akimi Saitou, I am the only Genin to ever pass Kakashi's test." She explained in a very professional tone.  
"We were in a similar situation...only my squad members wouldn't listen to me, but like Naruto and Sasuke they told Kakashi that I should pass." She continued, "Kakashi took me on as his student for reasons that not even I know, so I don't do things that other ninja at my rank do." She ended the explanation and smiled at them kindly. "So you think I should give them another chance to attempt working as a team?"  
"I do."  
"Alright," Kakashi said giving Sakura and Sasuke lunch. "Akimi is very...observant, so I'll give you another chance. But if you give any food to Naruto you'll fail." He warned as he took off to some unknown location.

* * *

"What did I just say?" Kakashi demanded suddenly appearing in a cloud of smoke and scaring everyone. Sasuke ans Sakura had decided that the team would work better if they were all at full strength, and broke the only rule. "But you pass!" Akimi said ruining the suspense due to the fact that she was tiring of Kakashi's game. "We do?" Sakura asked confused again.  
"Team members rely on each other in battle, a good Shinobi always takes care of his team." Kakashi said, "anyone who does anything less is scum."  
Sakura and Naruto started cheering for a few seconds; then everyone left forgetting to untie Naruto.

* * *

**AN: Sorry about the wait.**

**I posted a story titled "Accomplishments" my brother and I would like to know if Yami is a better character or Amya.  
**

**Thank you for all of your reviews and tips! they were all greatly appreciated.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

"speaking"

_thoughts_

**Inner Sakura**

* * *

"Hey old man! Why do all of our missions suck?" Naruto demanded; they had all gotten used to working together, and were just starting to get used to Akimi's weird antics. There was however a lot of tension between Sasuke and Naruto, but no one really wanted to get involved with trying to help them resolve whatever the problem was.  
"Naruto, you should be more respectful." Kakashi sighed. Naruto wasn't going to be silenced though. So in order to restore peace and keep things moving, the Hokage gave into Naruto's demands and sent them on a C mission. They had to escort the bridge builder Tazuna back to his home in the land of waves.

* * *

Tazuna wasn't too happy about having kids protecting him, and he didn't hold back back from expressing his rather insulting opinions on the subject.  
"Easy Naruto..." Sakura said holding him back from attacking the old man, "We're supposed to be keeping him safe."  
"Where's Akimi? She's a member of our squad...why isn't she traveling with us?" Sasuke asked.  
"Akimi likes to travel a certain way, so she is with us but you can't see her." Kakashi explained.  
"Is that her way of sneaking up on the enemy?" Naruto asked momentarily distracted from his attempts to bloogen Tazuna. "No, she just likes to feel _free_..." Kakashi explained, "and those are her words not mine. Though her strange ways do come in handy in battle when we could be outnumbered."  
"What sort of jutsu does she use?" Sasuke asked, he had been wanting to spar with his other female squad member for quite sometime, and if he could get Kakashi to tell him somethings he'd be more prepared if and when he got her to sit still long enough to challenge her. " I don't know..." Kakashi said hand on his chin in thought, "I have seen her fight many times, but she uses a technique that has been passed down within her clan for generations."

"Is it a strange technique sensei?" Sakura asked, though she was really interested in looking for plants as they walked. "It is, but she simply refuses to answer any questions about it." Kakashi answered. He had attempted plenty of times to get her to show him some moves, but she was adamant that it was a family secret and it was forbidden to share with outsiders. "Then we'll just have to pay close attention to her." Sasuke said a look of anticipation taking over his normally indifferent face. He was thinking about a fight, but he was focused on watching Sakura as she picked some herbs.  
_Looks like she'll be ready should anything happen..._he thought to himself. Though they wouldn't be dealing with anything more than robbers if they ran into any kind of trouble at all.

"What's she doing picking all of those plants?" Tazuna asked, he was annoyed with her for it. Sakura wasn't slowing them down at all so his annoyance was misplaced. She was doing something potentially helpful and unlike Naruto she was being quiet, _though I wouldn't mind if she was talking _Sasuke thought.  
"I assume that it is a hobby of her's or perhaps she plans to use them for something." Kakashi said. Sasuke was the only one in the only one in the group who knew what Sakura was doing, but he didn't know why she was keeping it a secret; and if Kakashi knew he wasn't saying anything about it.

Sakura's work and everyone else's thoughts were interrupted, when Kakashi was suddenly wrapped in chains and ripped to pieces. Two enemy ninja had attacked, Naruto getting hurt pretty much immediately. Sasuke was able to hold them off until Kakashi and Akimi finally appeared and finished their attackers off tying them to a tree to get some answers; though Kakashi pretty much just lectured them on why they were found out in the first place.

* * *

"Stop showing off!" Akimi commanded glaring at Kakashi as though he were an overly talkative child.  
"I'm not showing off, I'm trying to teach the importance off being aware of the enemy's presence without alerting them to the fact that they've been discovered."  
"And showing off. Just admit it Kakashi." Akimi said rolling her eyes. "Perhaps I was showing off just a little, but I don't see why I should be reprimanded for it." He said obviously amused by the situation, "A mission isn't the proper time for showing off." Akimi continued to scold him, "if you want to show off do it during training. He began to wounder which of the two was really in charge.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's reassuring voice and and whimpering Naruto. She was tending to the cut on Naruto's hand, "I had to deepen the cut in order to help filter out the poison," she explained when she noticed Sasuke watching them curiously; "there may already be some in the blood stream, but these medicine that I made should take care of what's left." Kakashi noticed the book open on the ground next to her. It was full of notes, the page that he could see was on treating poisons. "Does this have anything to do with why you've been picking plants since we left the village?" He asked, Kakashi knew the answer. "It never hurts to be prepared..." she mumbled blushing as though she was embarrassed. "I'm impressed. Having a skill like that on our squad will come in handy." Kakashi said patting her on the head.

* * *

Sakura couldn't pay much attention to what Kakashi was saying about Tazuna lying to them about the mission, she was more focused on why the waves of tension that she felt rolling off Sasuke felt like they were directed towards her. **It kind of feels like he's at war with himself she thought, but something in the back of my mind tells me that I'm involved somehow.**  
**I suppose that he could just be mad that Mr. Tazuna lied to us, but I would think that he and Naruto would be happy that this won't just be another boring mission.**Sakura's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Sasuke reaching out to take her hand, and once contact had been made he intertwined their fingers.

He felt how she stiffened when he took her hand.  
Sasuke was bothered by how he was beginning to feel a connection to Sakura, or beginning to feel anything other than hatred or annoyance towards another person at all. But something told him not to fight it, so he decided to play along for the moment. _Not so bad I could be attracted to one of my annoying fan girls_. he sighed inwardly. _I mean at least I have good tastes and picked someone quiet and smart._ He smirked as he felt her relaxing.

Sakura may have been relaxing, but she was also keeping her senses aware just in case Naruto or Kakashi decided to look in their direction, but since she and Sasuke were covering the rear she only really needed to worry about Akimi taking notice of the affectionate act. **Though she doesn't seem like she would really care, or even bring it up. She concluded.**

* * *

Tazuna caved under Kakashi's questioning and undeniable logic while they rode a small boat in order to quietly sneak into the village through the thick fog. He explained how completing the bridge would end Gato's oppressive rein over the village. "Are we still going to stay and help?" Akimi asked Kakashi as they walked in the direction of Tazuna's home, "we will." Kakashi said. He was sure that he could handle the next obstical and Akimi could guide the rest of the squad should anything go wrong.

Naruto wanted to prove that he was aware of his surroundings and better than Sasuke, so he took point and eventually caused a commotion by throwing a weapon and very nearly missed hitting an innocent rabbit.

Akimi vanished again murmuring something about giving weapons to idiots, and Sakura didn't hesitate to start scolding the blonde. "Everybody get down!" Kakashi yelled and they all ducked just in time to avoid getting their heads chopped off. The large sword that had assaulted them got stuck in a tree a very pale looking ninja landing on it's handle.

* * *

**AN: Sorry about the wait.**

**I posted a story titled "Accomplishments" my brother and I would like to know if Yami is a better character or Amya.  
**

**Thank you for all of your reviews and tips! they were all greatly appreciated.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

"speaking"

_thoughts_

**Inner Sakura**

* * *

His name was Zabuza. He was demon of the mist, and somehow he'd managed trick Kakashi into dodging his attack and ending up in the water. "Surio no justsu!" He said his vioce more like a growl; Kakashi was trapped in a ball made of water, but that left Zabuza with only one free hand to fight and defend himself with and it didn't take long for Naruto and the others to realize this. If they could get him to move his other hand out of the ball then Kakashi would be free.

_Great neither one of them is ready for a fight like this _Kakashi thought to himself as Zabuza made a taunting comment about Sasuke trembling, _the Kami only knows where Akimi is, but since I was fighting him she must've gone to hunt down his other team members and take them out quietly._  
Kakashi watched as Naruto and Sasuke took on a water clone leaving Sakura to protect the bridge builder, he took note of how she didn't look the least bit worried that they would loose this fight. _Knowing Akimi if she is aware of the current situation, then_ _she'll want them to get this experience and wont do anything until she deems it absolutely necessary._

* * *

Kakashi had been right about Akimi, she had found one person keeping a close eye on the fight; but she hadn't let the other ninja she was lurking around. _He's dressed like Anbu, _she concluded as she settled down to watch the fight and see just what her new squad mates could really do, _he must be after Zabuza to protect his village secrets._

* * *

Naruto's carefully executed plan had scored he and Sasuke some major adaption points.  
"Great you guys managed to get the upper hand." Akimi said landing next to Sakura. _Now I just need to see what she can do. _She thought to herself. "Where have you been?" Sasuke demanded, he hadn't really been all that concerned about the old man; no, he wanted to keep a certain pink haired girl out of harms way.  
"I was checking to see if he had come with anyone else, and giving you three a chance to experience a real battle...you'll thank me later."  
"You would've helped out...right?" Sakura asked.  
"Of course! But only if it didn't look like you all could handle it."  
"As you can see we did!"  
"Yes, you did Naruto."  
"Did you see anyone else?" Sasuke asked as they vaguely paid attention to the rest of the battle.

"If I'd seen someone of consequence they'd be dead." Akimi sighed. "Sadly there was only a-..."

* * *

Akimi had been cut off when someone else suddenly attacked Zabuza killing him. "An Anbu." She said finishing her sentence as the mentioned ninja appeared, "Kakashi!" She gasped when he passed out the Anbu having already taken Zabuza's body.  
"Don't worry," Sakura said. "I can fix him up at Tazuna-san's house." Akimi didn't even bother to inquire as to how she planned to do that. No, she had complete faith in the boys so she had the same for Sakura's ability.

"Let's get going before we get attacked again." Akimi said taking the role of leader


	6. Chapter 6

"Speaking"

_Thoughts_

**Inner** Sakura_  
_

* * *

Kakashi awoke to find all of his charges unharmed...except for the few bandages Naruto was wearing; Sakura was busy changing his languages and checking over his leg.

"Wha?"  
"Don't worry Kakashi." Akimi said.  
"We're at Tazuna-San's home, and Sakura's been taking good care of you!" Naruto added in that loud way of his.

"What's the verdict doctor?" Kakashi asked looking over at Sakura.  
"You'll need to limit how much you use this leg, the rest was just an over use of your chakra." Sakura answered, "you'll be fine in a few days."

"Sensei. Akimi told us who that kid was, but that something was off about him."Sasuke said changing the subject.

"So you noticed it to Akimi?" Kakashi asked.  
"Yes, if he had really killed Zabuza and had been tracking him...he would have begun destroying the body as soon weather we were there or not." Akimi sighed.  
"Huh?" Naruto asked confused.  
"What are you going on about?" Tazuna demanded.

"I also took notice of his choice of weapon...throwing needles." Akimi continued, "and he threw them in the neck not at any of the vital organs."  
"So what are you saying?" Naruto asked still confused.  
"Pressure points in the neck can be used to give the apperance of death." Sakura said.  
"So?" Naruto shrugged.

"Zabuza is still alive." Kakashi sighed shocking everyone except for Sakura and Akimi.

* * *

Despite his injured leg Kakashi decided to prepare them some more, before the next fight. They were being taught how to control their chakra by climb trees without using their hands. Everyone except for Akimi was surprised at how Sakura had made it to the top on the first try.

"You suspected she would do well?" Kakashi asked.  
"Well, she reminds me of me...determined and eager to learn as much as she possibly can about anything that she can."  
"Is that all?"  
"No, someone with great potential, but not enough confidence or opportunities to see what she can really do." Akimi explained.

"Sakura, Akimi will be training you from now on until I can get the boys on the right level." Kakashi said surprising both girls.  
"Why sensei?" Sakura asked.  
"At the moment you are higher than the boys and I don't have time to focus on just you at the moment, and Akimi needs to learn a bit about working with other people." Kakashi explained, "you boys come and find me once you've reached the top." He said heading back to the house.

* * *

Akimi led Sakura back to the house, "I was going to work on my own training today, but its nice to have someone to spar with." She said. "How good are your fighting skills?" Sakura remained silent. "Okay...that means that we'll start with a few basics mixed in with some defensive tecniques, then I'll help you get better with your chakra control." Akimi explained.

"Okay so what do I have to do first?" Sakura asked.  
"First we're going to spar."  
"And later?"  
"depending on how fast you pick up on things... I'll teach you some of my jutsu."

* * *

Sasuke had decided to call it a day and had returned to the house. "What the?" He began taking in the sight of Sakura in a meditative state.  
"Sakura's been that way for two hours now." Kakashi said.  
"Where's Akimi?" Sasuke asked.  
"She went inside for something a little while ago."

Sakura was just sitting there seemingly oblivius to the world around her. Had he been someone else(maybe Naruto); Sasuke would have tried to distract her.

"Sakura!"

At the sound of Akimi's voice the pinket snapped back into reality. "Here, I brought you some nurishment." Akimi smiled placing a plate of rice balls and pork in front of her, and some water. "You're about to be put on a really strict diet."  
"Is that really necessary?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, today she proved that she can handdle the intense way that I train, and if she's not eating properly the entire expiereance will be beyond terrible."

"Your training sounds interesting." Sasuke said.

"In about four months her fighting skill level will be right on par with you and Naruto."

Sakura found that after a hard day of training with her new best friend she was starving, so she just sat eating in silence and listening to Akimi talk about how strong she was going to become."

* * *

"I feel very confident in the outcome of training with you!" Sakura said at dinner that night.  
"Good...if you keep showing such promise and learn fast enough...I'll teach you a cool way to manipulate your chakra and gain an advantage over your opponent."  
"What are you teaching her?" Kakashi demanded.  
"My secrets." Akimi shrugged.

Kakashi knew he wasn't going to get an details let alone a real answer out of her so he dropped it.

Sasuke was amazed at the way Akimi and Kakashi interacted with each other; Akimi was the same age and rank as them, yet she spoke to Kakashi as though they were equals. _Strange...what could she have done to get such respect from a Jonin? _He thought to himself.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the wait. I was finishing another post, but now I'm ready to make up for lost time on this one so be on the look out for more updates in the days to come.  
**


End file.
